Arizona State students will soon have their chance to make the football team after a rough day from kicker Ian Hershey in the team’s 24-14 loss to Cincinnati. After a pair of key misses cost the Sun Devils, coach Kenny Dillingham plans to hold open tryouts for students in hopes of finding a solution.
With Arizona State down 24-14 in the fourth quarter, Hershey missed two field field goal attempts — one from 48 yards and another from 41 yards — that would have cut the lead to one score. Those proved to be critical plays in a 10-point loss to the Bearcats.
When asked to evaluate the kicking game in his postgame press conference, Dillingham didn’t pull any punches
“You would hope that you can make a kick, but our kicking game is atrocious,” Dillingham said. “So, if you can and you’re at Arizona State, email me. We’re gonna have kicking tryouts on Monday, so bring it on. Kicking tryouts on Monday. Let’s go.”
“I’m dead serious,” Dillingham added. “We’re gonna put it out on our socials. Kicking tryouts on Monday. We’ve got to find somebody who can make a field goal.”
Dillingham admitted that he and his coaching staff need to do a better job of helping Hershey prepare for those situations, but he also explained that he owes it to his team to look for other options.
“We’ve got to do a better job getting him in a good mental state to kick,” Dillingham said. “By the same token, I gotta do a job, and I gotta get guys on the field that can perform in those situations as well.
“We’ll work and get better and have a tryout to see if somebody’s good enough. If for some reason there’s not, then status quo — keep going to work. If somebody is, then we’ll add them to the team and rock and roll from there.”
With Arizona State’s bye week on deck next weekend, Dillingham will have some time to sort out his kicking situation, whether Hershey keeps the job or another student comes in off the futon.
